This book is one of more than 175 titles in Barron's extensive line of Complete Pet Owner's Manuals. All titles in this series present pet care information for non-specialist animal owners and pet buyers. These heavily illustrated manuals are filled with facts about the title animal's origins and traits, as well as advice on purchasing, housing, feeding, health care, and much more. Each book is individually written by a trainer, breeder, veterinarian, or other animal specialist. Titles in this series cover every popular breed of dog and cat, as well as freshwater and marine fish for aquarium hobbyists, lizards and other terrarium pets, many bird varieties, and virtually all other animals that are kept as pets. All books are filled with vivid color photos and instructive line illustrations.

Most helpful customer reviews

What makes a good book about hamsters? Lots of PICTURES. And this book has plenty! Cute little dwarfies smiling, dancing doing back flips, playing basketball and being cuuuute! Photographs, not just drawings. I think the best part of it is that only sick or injured hamsters are drawn. That way you never get to see an actual hamster in bad condition. Photos of animals that have been injured can be disturbing, especially for dwarf hamster-obsessed people like me. There are like 4 or 5 drawings only, and LOTS of photos. Tons! I love this book!Even though it's pretty thin, this manual is close to complete. It focuses on the eveyday pet owner, not just on breeders. There are not too many home remedies, it mostly recommends taking your pet to the vet. The section on recuperating a lost hamster is smart. Valuable information. It doesn't go too technical but it tells it just like it is. No kiddie speak. Also, most of the hamsters pictured are gray, just like my own Campbell's dwarf. That has made the book so much more enjoyable. There's a section on how to distinguish between 4 types of dwarf hamsters.Get this book! You will want to eat it!

Dwarf Hamsters -A Complete Pet Owner's Manual- by Dr. Sharon Vanderlip, provides all of the essential information required to select, purchase, understand and care for this interesting group of pocket pets. The organization is clean and easy to use as a reference. Well-structured, readable tables present information on their taxonomy, biology, health care, reproduction and genetics. It is filled with good photos and illustrations. Of particular value to hamster owners, and veterinarians alike, is the advice given on how to gather the proper information and observations that will be necessary if a pet owner needs to seek veterinary care for their dwarf hamster. This compact, but information packed, book will be useful not only to pet owners, but for anyone involved with the housing and care of these species. It is an extraordinary value and written to be appreciated by first time hamster caregivers, pet fanciers, and by veterinarians.Phillip T. Robinson, MS, DVM, DACZM Director, VeterinaryReview.com

This has been a very helpful book, explaining a lot of our hamster's behavior and helping us to care for her better. The only reason it doesn't get five stars is that, once in a while, it leaves you hanging. For example, it explains the potential problems with various types of bedding material, but never comes right out and says which is best. Still, it's well worth getting, even if it's not perfect.

I own four of Sharon Vanderlip's books and this was the first one I read. I soon realized that she often repeats the same information in each of her books which range from the subjects of dwarf hamsters, mice, guinea pigs and chinchillas.This just shows how general she is with a lot of her information. She doesn't seem to have much experience on caring for all of these and the knowledge she shares is quite theoretical.In this book, I found the layout to be a little random. The sequences of information did not go well with my thought-process. There also seemed to be little correlation between the visuals on the page and the information in that section.On a positive not, however, there is a very valuable section at the beginning of the book where she discusses the different species of dwarf hamsters and their classification under Kingdom Animalia. Other than this, her description of the species characteristics was not completely accurate.To any buyers out there, I encourage you to do research on a more up-to-date source. A lot of what she says is no longer practiced by hamster enthusiasts and it's up to you to sift through this book, picking out the false bits.

Dwarf Hamsters -A Complete Pet Owner's Manual- by Dr. Sharon Vanderlip, provides all of the essential information required to select, purchase, understand and care for this interesting group of pocket pets. The organization is clean and easy to use as a reference. Well-structured, readable tables present information on their taxonomy, biology, health care, reproduction and genetics. It is filled with good photos and illustrations. Of particular value to hamster owners, and veterinarians alike, is the advice given on how to gather the proper information and observations that will be necessary if a pet owner needs to seek veterinary care for their dwarf hamster. This compact, but information packed, book will be useful not only to pet owners, but for anyone involved with the housing and care of these species. It is an extraordinary value and written to be appreciated by first time hamster caregivers, pet fanciers, and by veterinarians.Phillip T. Robinson, MS, DVM, DACZMDirector, VeterinaryReview.com

I wanted to hug this book, the pictures of the Dwaf Hamsters are so cute and cuddly. I really enjoyed reading about how to tame you Hammie, breeding, and personality. Its so cool that Dwarfs have their own book all about them, this is the only book you'll need, u have to get it!